Undergrad School

[GDIklz]

Does it matter what university you obtain your B.S. in engineering from? How large of an impact does the school you attended have in the real engineering world when applying for jobs?

I am considering a small private university in Arkansas, as well as a well-known public university in California. The public university (Cal Poly SLO) has a good reputation for its engineering program, and the private university (John Brown University) isn't nationally recognized. My question is does it matter which university I attend? Will it make any difference in the long run?

Thanks!

 

[Dleg]

It "can" make a difference. First and foremost, make sure the degree program is ABET accredited. If it is not, you are wasting your time - your degree won't be recognized as an engineering degree by just about everyone.

Other than that, the quality of education can vary dramatically across schools. A big, well-known and well-funded engineering program will likely have more and better equipment and "maybe" better teachers. But most ABET accredited programs are going to be just fine, and the real differences will come down to individuals, as always. You will only get out of it, what you put into it.

I went to a basic state school and it had adequate facilities and teachers, and I feel I received an excellent education. I know for a fact that I can hold my own against folks with degrees from much more prestigious schools. That said, the prestigious degree WILL get your foot in the door a lot easier than one from a lesser known school, both in terms of employment and graduate school. In other words, I may be a better engineer than some academic from MIT, but Mr. (or Ms.) MIT will most likely be called for an interview before I am.

If you can afford it, I say go for Cal Poly.

 

[AyanHein]

I'm going to Cal Poly Pomona. We have an excellent engineering program. Needless to say, we call know that Cal Poly SLO is better than pomona, so you won't go wrong with SLO. Even it's undergrad, it matters which school you came from.

 

[picusld]

agreed with what was said above. A great equalizer is also passing the FE if you happen to go to a lesser known school like I did. I had 4 offers before I graduated.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

IMO, it only matters in getting that first job. After that, where you got your degree is pretty much irrelevant, generally speaking.

 

[roadwreck]

If you are going to become a licensed engineer the ABET accreditation is a must. After that I think the most important thing is to find a school where you are comfortable and where you feel what you learn there will have some value once you get out of school (i.e. you will be marketable in the workforce). Finding a school you can afford is important really important. Going out of state to a top tier school can have it's advantages, but if you are paying off student loans for the rest of your life it may not be worth it.

I do think that graduating from a school with a well know reputation will open more doors for your first job, but after that it becomes less important.

 

[benbo]

I think it helps for the first job.

There are a handful of schools that have nationwide recognition and will get your foot in the door most anywhere - MIT, Caltech, Georgia Tech, Stanford, Cal, RPI, UIUC, etc. Cal Poly SLO sort of falls into that category these days.

After that, it becomes sort of regional. Everyone in California knows most UCs and many Cal States have reasonable engineering programs, so if you stay local you'll get interviews at least (provided you meet the company's other requirements such as GPA or prior internships for some companies). But it is less likely anybody in Rhode Island will know anything about your school if you went to Cal State Fullerton.

In my LA office for example, the schools represented are Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Cal Poly SLO, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State LA, and Cal State Long Beach.

 

[MA_PE]

It's not irrelevant but it's also not a major issue. Undergrad is the fundamanetal engineering courses and as long as the program is ABET accredited and you do well then the fundamentals will be taught. Grad school is where the specialization and cutting edge research is done. The more prestegious the school the more likely their graduate program is doing quality and relevant research. Experience with that research and the industry academic leaders in grad school is much more important than undergrad. My 0.02.

 

[StaciaZ]

Here's a link where you can check to see if a school's program is ABET accredited.

http://www.abet.org/AccredProgramSearch/Ac...tionSearch.aspx

 

[ALBin517]

Also, you never know when you might decide to try grad school. In which case, an easier undergrad program that inflates your GPA might be the way to go.

 

[RIP - VTEnviro]

I went to a regional private college known as having a strong engineering school. The college as a whole ranks in the top 20 or so every year for northest regional schools.

It helped me get my first job because I stayed local for a few years after graduation. When I went looking out of state later on, my experience was more what they were after, but the fact that I went to a reputable school with an ABET engineering program definitely bolstered my resume, despite the fact they didn't have the familiarity with the school.

I'm married to an academic, and if you go that route, name brand matters big time.

 

[cableguy]

Around the place I work, I can't name any engineer that doesn't have a degree from a "major" university. Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Texas, University of Houston, Baylor... If I were a hiring manager, evaluating candidates from 2 different colleges - one I'd heard of, and one I'd never heard of - and their employment experience was similar, personalities were similar, etc... I'd probably opt for the "more well known" school candidate. Well, that's how they seem to roll around here anyway...

 

[ALBin517]

Around the place I work, I can't name any engineer that doesn't have a degree from a "major" university. Texas A&M, Texas Tech, University of Texas, University of Houston, Baylor... If I were a hiring manager, evaluating candidates from 2 different colleges - one I'd heard of, and one I'd never heard of - and their employment experience was similar, personalities were similar, etc... I'd probably opt for the "more well known" school candidate. Well, that's how they seem to roll around here anyway...

I might have got my two jobs in Michigan, in part, because of the name recognition of Florida State. It's ironic because the FSU engineering degree compares poorly to many schools with less recognizable names.

 

[ironman]

I went to a really good school and I dont feel it made much of a difference other than in your student loan ballance. I had just as hard a time as anyone else finding a job out of school PLUS I had the debt. That student loan debt is the difference between night and day, if you dont have it you can just fix up your old car and live at home and look for work without any pressure to take jobs you really dont want.

One thing I did notice is the difficulty level of your school (how "good" it is) will take the focus off of your GPA if its not so hot. for instance if you graduated from MIT with a 2.5 no one is going to care. If you went to a lesser known school you will need to have a higher GPA. Keep in mind though all the GPA and ranking of your school only matters for your first job, once you have 3-4 years under your belt no one will care about any of it, of course getting that first job can be a major hurtle so people look for any edge they can get, but its not worth getting that edge if its going to put significant financail pressure on you to do things you dont want to do.

If the economy is in the crapper, nothing is going to matter and thats when your going to want 0 debt so you can hang out at home and ride it out.

So in conclusion, if you can get the name brand without a heap of loan debt then go for it but if you have to take out more than 5 or 10k in loans go to a state school or something in state because its not worth it.

 

[GDIklz]

Thanks for your input everyone.

So what if you go to a school on the east coast but you plan to live on the west coast after graduation. Will employers frown upon schools from other states that they've never heard of?

Also, when speaking of grad school, do the big name universities take serious consideration into where you received your undergrad? If you go to a no-name school for undergrad, can you make it into top grad schools?

Thanks!

 

[GDIklz]

Thanks for the link StaciaZ.

I looked under John Brown University, and it's accredited for general engineering, but not mechanical engineering specifically, whereas Cal Poly SLO is. Does this matter?

 

[navyasw02]

Thanks for the link StaciaZ.
I looked under John Brown University, and it's accredited for general engineering, but not mechanical engineering specifically, whereas Cal Poly SLO is. Does this matter?

I think it does, but dont quote me. I'd go for a school that's accredited for the program you want to do.

 

[willsee]

Yes you need to get an accredited degree.

 

[GDIklz]

So because only the "General Engineering" program is accredited at John Brown and the specific "Mechanical Engineering" program isn't by name accredited, if I went there and studied Mechanical Engineering, it wouldn't be considered accredited, even though they have "general engineering" accreditation?

 

[navyasw02]

So because only the "General Engineering" program is accredited at John Brown and the specific "Mechanical Engineering" program isn't by name accredited, if I went there and studied Mechanical Engineering, it wouldn't be considered accredited, even though they have "general engineering" accreditation?

Yes I believe Mechanical Engineering is not ABET accredited. Try the next school on the list, Johns Hopkins, and you'll see how they break out each engineering discipline into its own ABET accreditation.